Transcript The Petrified Forest National Park

The Petrified Forest
National Park
By: Marshall
The Park’s Founding
The Petrified Forest National Monument was
createdDecember 8, 1906 through a
proclamation by Teddy Roosevelt. After a
time of using the wood for souvenirs and
creating other objects, it was realized that
the petrified wood was not an endless
supply. So, Teddy Roosevelt declared it a
National Monument to protect the area.
1000 hectares more of the Painted Desert
was added to the Monument in 1932.
It became a National Park in 1962. In 1970,
20,250 hectares were further added to
the Park as wilderness. It was made a
National Park originally to protect some of
the most beautiful large groups of
petrified wood in the world. The Painted
Desert is protected because it is so easy to
disturb the layers of sediment with even
just a footprint.
Earth Science: The Park’s Formation
The Petrified Forest National Park was created
because trees from the Triassic Period had
fallen and been covered by silt and mud, and
been washed for millions of years by mineral
rich ground waters. The silica in the water
crystallized into quartz, and the logs were
preserved as petrified wood.
The Painted Desert is an area of flat mesas and
high topped tableland. Over millions of
years, the same mineral-rich waters rose and
then sank many times, creating many layers
of different colors of earth. High winds
erode the sediment, allowing the park to
have the multi-colored formations of ground.
The oxides of iron and hematite create the
red, pink and orange layers. Floods could
create rapid sediment buildup, which made
blue, gray and lavender layers. All of the land
is very easily disturbed, where even a
footprint or a slight earthquake can cause
damage.
Petrified Wood
Rocks in
The Petrified Forest National Park
The Petrified Forest National Park
has several common types of
rocks in the park. Sedimentary
rocks like mudstones,
siltstones, sandstones, shales
and conglomerates are there.
Basalt and igneous rock is in
the park. Minerals like quartz
(silicon dioxide), iron ores like
limonite and hematite, a
selenite called crystalline
gypsum, and calcite are found
there, too. The petrified trees
have quartz and crystalline
silicate in them.
silicate
Landforms in
The Petrified Forest National Park
The Park has two special landforms. The Chinle
Formation is older, and is made up of river
related deposits. The layers of the Chinle
formation are, oldest to youngest, the Mesa
Redondo, Blue Mesa, Sonsela, Petrified
Forest, and Owl Rock. The Mesa Redondo is
at the bottom,and is reddish sandstone. Blue
Mesa is next to the bottom and has thick
mudstone layers of blue, gray, purple and
green. The Petrified Forest Member is thick
layers of reddish mudstone and brown
sandstone. The Owl Rock is made up of
pinkish-orange mudstones mixed with thin
layers of limestone.
The other special landform in the park is the
Bidahochi Formation. This formation is 4 to 8
million years old. Lake-related sediment like
silt and clay compose the lower part of the
formation. Ground-down volcanic ash
creates the scoria cones and maars, which
make up the rest of the land formation of
Bidahochi.
The Chinle and
Bidahochi
Formations
The Land is Changing
The Petrified Forest National Park
land is changing by the
accumulation of sand and dirt
from formations eroding and
water carrying new deposits
around. The soil from deposits
can allows shortgrass prairie
grassland to grow. The Little
Colorado river is cutting paths
in the Chinle and Bidahochi
formations. Clay from the
Chinle Formation is washing
up as land, and does not allow
plants to grow. Heavy rains
can take away up to ¼ inch of
rock a year.
Sandstone drawings
A dry riverbed
Environmental Issues
Environmental issues at the
park are the destruction of
the shortgrass prairie by
invasive non-native species
of plants. Russian thistle
and tamarisk are invasive
plants introduced by
humans to the park. They
choke off native plant
species which the
ecosystem relies on to
survive. Also, petrified
wood is stolen from the
park every year by humans.
Grasslands at the rim of the Painted Desert
Russian Thistle
Technological Preservation
The Petrified Forest uses
no special technology to
keep it running stably.
Its natural processes
take their effect on the
park. Simple technology
is used to monitor the
park, to keep away
wood thieves, and to
educate the visitors.
Triassic Period
Maps
Relief map
Locations within park
Works Cited
Petrified Forest: A Student's Guide.
US Department of the Interior:
National Park Service, 2003. Print.
Petrified Forest: Geology and the
Painted Desert. US Department of
the Interior: National Park
Service, 2008. Print.
"Petrified Forest National Park
Information Page." Petrified
Forest National Park. US
Department of the Interior. Web.
28 Mar. 2010.
<http://www.petrified.forest.nati
onal-park.com/info.htm>.
Petrified Forest: Trees to Stone. US
Department of the Interior:
National Park Service, 2006. Print.